Chapter 80: Awakening

We all know we are going to die. Nothing is forever. You just do not expect death when it comes knocking on your door.

The most important thing to do in any situation is to stay calm. Panic overrides all your senses. It paralyzes you. It turns you into easy prey.

I scan the area around me. An open field is between me and the inn and the tree line is only a strip of grass and a small grove of pomegranate trees, their thorns threatening if you dare to venture too deeply, away from the woods. I sense danger but cannot see it. I make myself small, like a fox laying in grass, about to make a mad dash across the field to the inn.

It was like a dream, the way the wolf walked from the trees, padded feet silently stalking me. My attention the other way, scanning the field before darting across it, him lurking like a spider who has already trapped their prey. I am slithering on my belly in the grass when I hear his growl. Flipping myself quickly, I realize it’s too late to dart to safety. I